Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Working Hours

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing (a) a right for workers to receive to reasonable notice of future working hours and (b) compensation for workers whose shifts cancelled without reasonable notice.

Kevin Hollinrake: In 2019 the Government held a consultation inviting views on policies which aim to tackle some of the challenges associated with non-guaranteed hours. These included proposals on providing reasonable notice of shifts and providing compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice. The Department is currently analysing the results of this consultation and will respond in due course.

Groceries Code Adjudicator: Reviews

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the three-yearly statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator will be completed; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government is currently undertaking the third statutory review of the effectiveness of the Groceries Code Adjudicator in enforcing the Groceries Supply Code of Practice and is considering the results of the public consultation that ended on 11 October. A report on the findings of the statutory review will be published and laid before Parliament in due course.

Paternity Leave and Pay

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2022 to Question 65958 on Parental Pay, what estimate his Department has made of the number of working new fathers who were eligible for (a) Statutory Paternity Leave and (b) Statutory Paternity Pay in each year since 2010-11.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not routinely collect data on the number of fathers eligible for Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay. However, in order to gather information among parents on how parental entitlements, including Paternity Leave and Pay, are used in practice, the Government commissioned the Parental Rights Survey as part of the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) evaluation. We intend to publish the SPL evaluation and underpinning research, which includes information on the take-up of Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay, in due course.

Conditions of Employment: Enforcement

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of creating a single enforcement body for employment rights.

Kevin Hollinrake: Creating a new body is a substantial organisational change and we are making sure that all aspects of this reform have been thoroughly considered. Primary legislation will be required to create this new body and so timing will be dependent on the legislative timetable.

Conditions of Employment: Enforcement

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has had discussions with the Director of Labour Market Enforcement on the creation of a single enforcement body for employment rights in the last 12 months.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department has regular discussions with the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) and her team about all matters to do with the labour market enforcement bodies that are within the DLME’s purview.

Living Wage: Children and Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he will take steps to ensure that all workers aged (a) under 16 and (b) 16 to 18 are paid the real living wage as minimum.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government is committed to increasing the National Minimum Wage as much as possible without damaging employment prospects for younger workers. This is why on 1 April 2022, Government increased the National Minimum Wage rates for both workers under 18 and 18-20 years old by 4.1% to £4.81 and £6.83 respectively. For younger workers, the priorities in those first years are to secure work and gain experience which has always been reflected in the National Minimum Wage rate structure.

BioYorkshire: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for the BioYorkshire programme.

George Freeman: At Spending Review 2021, the Government committed to increasing public research and development (R&D) expenditure to £20 billion per annum by 2024/2025, the largest ever sustained uplift. The Levelling Up White Paper sets out how we will maximise the contribution of innovation to levelling up by building on existing and emerging strengths across the country and supporting high-skill jobs. The North and North Yorkshire devolution deal, published in August 2022, commits that Innovate UK, within UK Research and Innovation will work with the York and North Yorkshire Combine Authority to formally recognise and seek opportunities to support the BioYorkshire cluster.

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Services: Learning Disability

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made training on learning disabilities available to all (a) health and (b) adult social care staff.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of knowledge within healthcare services to offer appropriate support to people with learning disabilities; and what steps she is taking to help ensure more staff receive sufficient training for that purpose.

Maria Caulfield: The second annual ‘Learning from lives and deaths – People with a learning disability and autistic people’ report recommended the introduction of mandatory learning disability training for all health and social care staff to address existing health inequalities. As set out in Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, healthcare service providers must ensure that staff have the necessary training to carry out their roles and responsibilities.From 1 July 2022, we introduced a requirement for Care Quality Commission-registered providers to ensure staff receive mandatory training on learning disability and autism appropriate to their role, as set out in the Health and Care Act 2022.

Eating Disorders: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support young people with eating disorders in (a) York Central constituency and (b) York.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help improve access to mental health services in (a) York Central constituency and (b) York.

Maria Caulfield: In September we announced ‘Our Plan for Patients’, which outlines how we will increase access to National Health Service mental health and eating disorder services, including in York. Ensuring easier access to general practice will expand this route to access mental health services.Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expand these services for adults, children and young people in England, including in York. We will invest approximately £1 billion in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness, including eating disorders, by 2023/24 and an additional £53 million per year in children and young people's community eating disorder services to increase capacity in the 70 community eating disorder teams.

Dental Services: Plymouth

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the additional £50 million funding for NHS dentistry announced in January 2022, (a) how much and (b) what proportion of that money was disbursed to Plymouth.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not held in the format requested.

Electronic Cigarettes: Health Education

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she will take steps to support the vaping awareness campaigning entitled VApril in April 2023.

Neil O'Brien: We continue to support annual marketing campaigns such as Stoptober and the Better Health campaign, which aim to help smokers stop smoking and switch to less harmful alternatives, such as vapes.

General Practitioners: Attendance

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the number of missed GP appointments in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: The information requested is not held in the format requested.

General Practitioners: Garston and Halewood

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of GP appointments in Garston and Halewood in the past 12 months; and what that number was in 2013.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of GP appointments in Garston and Halewood conducted face-to-face in the last 12 months; and what that number was in 2013.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not collected in the format requested.

General Practitioners: East Yorkshire

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made in the last six months to increase the number of face to face GP appointments available in East Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: Data on general practice appointments is not collected in the format requested.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made any preparations to introduce antibody testing before Christmas 2022 for immunocompromised and immunosuppressed patients who may not mount a full response to Covid vaccines.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of providing antibody testing to the estimated 500,000 immunocompromised and immunosuppressed patients who may not mount a full response to the covid-19 vaccines.

Will Quince: The Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce is exploring options for a pilot study to test antibody levels in immunosuppressed patients to provide clinical evidence of a potential protective vaccine response. This could inform a wider testing programme identifying those who have mounted a protective antibody response following vaccination and provide more informed advice.No specific cost estimate has yet been made. However, officials are in discussions with experts in this area and further information will be available in due course.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children received Healthy Start Vitamins Vouchers in the latest period for which data is available.

Neil O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally.

Obesity

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce obesity levels.

Neil O'Brien: New Regulations on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses including restaurants, cafes and takeaways came into force in April 2022 and restrictions on the promotion by location of products high in fat, salt or sugar in large retail settings came into force on 1 October. We are also working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for people to make healthier choices and increase progress on the reformulation of foods. In addition, weight management services are available to support adults and children living with obesity to achieve a healthier weight.

Smoking

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the progress made by her Department towards its smoke-free 2030 target.

Neil O'Brien: We will provide an update on plans to deliver the smoke-free target in due course.

Joint Replacements: Waiting Lists

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the waiting times for joint replacement surgery.

Will Quince: The Department has committed £1.5 billion to fund new surgical hubs, increase bed capacity and purchase new equipment to enhance surgical capacity for high volume elective procedures, such as hip and knee joint replacements. The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ set out NHS England’s plans to improve patient pathways to reduce avoidable delays. This will focus on some of the most common types of care, including musculoskeletal services.

Diamorphine

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of provision of diamorphine assisted treatment.

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made on supporting areas to explore Heroin Assisted Treatment where there is a demonstrable need in line with the evidence as committed to in the Government's response to the Health Select Committee's 2019 report on Drugs Policy.

Neil O'Brien: Heroin assisted treatment (HAT) or diamorphine assisted treatment (DAT) is a clinical intervention supported by the 2017 United Kingdom-wide drug treatment guidelines. Local authorities in England are responsible for commissioning drug treatment services, including whether to commission HAT services. Local authorities’ individual financial allocations and assessments of local need will determine if HAT is a viable intervention. The Government supports areas which pursue HAT where the relevant licences are obtained from the Home Office. In 2021, the former Public Health England provided additional guidance on commissioning and developing a HAT service if local authorities choose this approach.The 10-year drug strategy is supported by a new investment of £780 million, including £532 million for local authorities to invest in treatment and recovery services in addition to the Public Health Grant. This allows local authorities to determine which interventions could augment current treatment systems. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities provides oversight of local delivery and continues to monitor implementation against the aims of the drug strategy.

Health and Care Professions Council

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed 20 per cent fee increase for registrants to the Health and Care Professional Council.

Will Quince: The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is independent from Government and is responsible for setting its registration fees policy. Any changes to its fees are included in rules which must be laid before Parliament.On 22 September 2022, the HCPC opened a consultation on a proposal to increase the fees it charges registrants and applicants. The HCPC published an online equality impact assessment alongside its consultation, which is due to close on 15 December 2022.

NHS: Sick Leave

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS staff absences due to covid-19 count toward an employee's annual allowance of sick leave.

Will Quince: The temporary and non-contractual COVID-19 guidance developed by the Department in March 2020 has now been withdrawn. Normal contractual terms and conditions covering sickness arrangements make provision for up to six months full pay and six months half pay for National Health Service (NHS) staff. Some NHS employers may have additional guidance in place for those who contract COVID-19.

Healthy Start Scheme

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department takes to measure the effectiveness of Healthy Start vouchers.

Neil O'Brien: In June 2022, the Department commissioned a 30 month evaluation of the Healthy Start scheme in England through the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Viral Diseases: Health Services

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to seek early access to the forthcoming update of the Cochrane review on physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses to help ensure thatpolicy recommendations for this winter are informed by that review.

Neil O'Brien: We have no plans to do so. All guidance is kept under regular review to ensure it remains appropriate to reduce the risks posed by respiratory pathogens in the community, in care and other settings.

Midwives: Training

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many individuals (a) were accepted onto pre-registration midwifery training courses, (b) started their pre-registration midwifery training, (c) were at any stage in their pre-registration midwifery training and (d) successfully completed their pre-registration midwifery training, in England, in each academic year since 2015-16.

Will Quince: In the 2021/22 application cycle, there were 3,720 students accepted places onto undergraduate midwifery courses in England. The following table shows the number of accepted places in midwifery courses in each academic year since 2015.2015/162,3802016/172,3952017/182,6002018/192,6802019/203,1052020/213,6302021/223,720Source: The Universities and Colleges Admissions ServiceThe information requested on the number of individuals at stages on pre-registration midwifery training is not held centrally.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made on investing in innovative research and treatment as part of a holistic approach to the treatment of drug addiction since the publication of Dame Carol Black's Review of Drugs.

Neil O'Brien: On 6 December 2021, the Government published a long-term drugs strategy, ‘From harm to hope’, in response to Dame Carol Black’s review. The strategy accepts all of the review’s recommendations, including improving research. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has identified a number of research projects which are being commissioned through the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). The first project began in August 2022, which will examine drug use within minority ethnic groups. Additionally, the Office for Life Sciences are implementing an 'addiction healthcare mission', with an investment of £30 million over three years. The mission aims to enhance the United Kingdom’s research environment, encourage innovative treatments and technologies to support recovery and reduce the harm and deaths these addictions cause. The Department and the Joint Combating Drugs Unit have also launched a new £5 million innovation fund with the NIHR. This will develop and evaluate innovative pilot projects which aim to reduce recreational drug use and phase 1 projects are expected to commence in March 2023.

Medical Equipment: Certification Quality Marks

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that implementation of UK Conformity Assessed marking is aligned with other regulatory systems, including those of the US Food and Drug Administration and the EU’s Medical Devices Regulation, so that the UK is not geographically deprioritised through implementation of UKCA marking.

Dame Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the EU Medical Devices Regulations assessment system on the availability medical device and health tech products in the UK; and what steps he is taking to provide patients in the UK with equal access to medical devices and health tech through the delivery of an effective UKCA marking system.

Will Quince: The future medical devices regime is an overhaul of the current regulatory framework, aimed at improving safety and incorporating measures to encourage innovation and offer alternative routes to market. This includes domestic assurance, which will allow an abridged assessment with the appropriate scrutiny and United Kingdom approved bodies can reject applications under the domestic assurance route if the evidence provided is insufficiently robust. A number of countries will be considered for the domestic assurance route, including the United States of America.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is working to build closer partnerships with global regulators and has established full membership of the International Medical Device Regulations Forum (IMDRF) and is an official observer of the Medical Devices Single Audit Programme (MDSAP), of which the US Food and Drug Administration is a member. The MHRA is engaging with the FDA within international fora and on a bilateral basis.The transitional arrangements for medical devices are intended to minimise the risks to access for patients in the UK and facilitate the transition between the current and new regulatory framework whilst supporting the ongoing safe supply of essential medical devices. CE marked devices under the new European Union regulations will continue to be placed onto the UK market when the new regime comes into force for up to a period of five years, with a view to review this provision at the end of the five-year period. It is not anticipated that an extension of this provision will be required, as the intervening period will be used to support an increase in approved body capacity to ensure the UK has sufficient capacity to transition all medical devices to the UKCA marking system. The MHRA will work with international regulators to place the UKCA marking for medical devices on a global standing.

General Practitioners: Nottingham South

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of GP appointments in Nottingham South in the last 12 months; and what that number was in 2013.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not collected in the format requested.

Wales Office

Jehu: Redundancy

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he will take what Cabinet colleagues to support people made redundant by the closure of Jehu Group.

David T C Davies: I am sorry to hear that the Jehu Group, based in Bridgend with a long history in South Wales, has gone into liquidation. An Official Receiver has been appointed to oversee the winding up of the business. We offered immediate support for the 106 people who have been made redundant to date through the Department of Work and Pensions Rapid Response Service. A team from the Bridgend Job Centre, working alongside Careers Wales, visited the company the day the closure was announced, and they have offered one-to-one advice and support to all those affected.

Ethnic Groups: Wales

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on steps to promote the integration of minority communities in Wales.

David T C Davies: I was appointed Secretary of State for Wales on Tuesday 25 October. I intend to have a series of meetings with Cabinet colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities to discuss a variety of issues that are of importance to both Wales and the UK.As Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, I was delighted to visit the Butetown community centre in Cardiff and saw first-hand the great work they are doing with the funding received from the Windrush Community Fund.

Department for Education

Family Hubs: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding of family hubs.

Claire Coutinho: The government is making significant investments in family hubs. At the October 2021 Budget, the Chancellor announced a £301.75 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of upper tier local authorities across England. This will fund:A network of Family Hubs (£81.75 million)Local areas to publish their Start for Life offer (£10 million)Parent-infant mental health support (£100 million)Breastfeeding support services (£50 million)Parenting programmes (£50 million)Trials of innovative workforce models in a smaller number of areas to test approaches to improve the support available to new parents (£10 million). An additional £28.7 million has been made available to these 75 local authorities to improve young children’s home learning environments, helping them to recover from the pandemic. This investment builds on the existing £39.5 million investment to champion family hubs, which includes:A new £12 million Family Hubs Transformation Fund which will support 12 local authorities in England to transform to a family hub model of service deliveryGrants to accelerate the opening of family hubs across all regions of the countryA new national centre for family hubs to provide expert advice and guidance, which is run by the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families. This launched in May 2021.An evaluation innovation fund to build the evidence baseData and digital products that will support the practical implementation of family hubs by helping local professionals to share information more effectively and improve how families access and navigate services. All upper tier local authorities also benefit from our increased investment in the Supporting Families programme. As part of the Autumn 2021 Spending Review, £200 million of additional investment was announced to expand the programme. This is around a 40% cash uplift in funding by 2024/25, taking total planned investment across the next three years to £695 million.

Children: Social Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of independent reviewing officers for improving standards in children’s social care.

Claire Coutinho: The department is fully committed to ensuring the voice of the child in care is listened to when taking forward our response to the Independent Care Review.The department will publish a detailed implementation strategy later this year, which will set out how we will improve outcomes for vulnerable children and place the system on a sustainable footing.

Social Workers: Agency Workers

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of the use of (a) locus and (b) agency social workers in each of the last three years.

Claire Coutinho: The children’s social work workforce census publishes data on agency social workers from 2017 to 2021. The latest data shows that, as of 30 September 2021, there were nearly 6,000 full-time equivalent agency children and family social workers. The census report is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-s-social-work-workforce.The department does not collect data on the specific contractual arrangements or costs paid by local authorities in engaging temporary workers within the children and family social worker workforce.The department invests over £50 million each year on recruiting and developing child and family social workers to ensure the workforce continues to have the capacity, skills, and knowledge to support and protect vulnerable children. Each year we train an average of 800 new social workers through our fast-track programme and provide professional development for around 4,000 others.The government recognised the need for reform, which is why the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care was commissioned. The department is currently considering the Review’s recommendations, which include proposals to help reduce the cost and use of agency social work.   The department will publish the children’s social care implementation strategy in due course.

Holiday Activities and Food Programme: Finance

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated to each local authority for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme 2022 has been spent on (a) administration, (b) publicity and marketing, (c) organisations asked to deliver activities and (d) food.

Claire Coutinho: The department is investing over £200 million a year in the holiday activities and food programme. This provides free holiday club places with enriching activities and healthy meals to children from low-income families. It is delivered through grants to local authorities, and the clubs are available in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.Local authorities are required to follow the specification in the programme’s grant determination letter, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1042274/Grant_determination_letter_-_HAF_2022_Final.pdf.This states that authorities can spend up to a maximum of 10% of their funding allocation on administration costs.The department’s delivery for the 2022/23 financial year is not yet complete, as provision will continue during the Christmas holidays. After the end of the 2022/23 financial year, local authorities must confirm through an annual Certificate of Expenditure that the funding has been properly expended. Authorities must also provide an annual report after the financial year ends, including final information on expenditure.As delivery in 2022 is still ongoing, the department is not in a position to collate or share breakdowns showing local authority expenditure for this full period on (a) administration, (b) publicity and marketing, (c) organisations asked to deliver activities and (d) food. However, there is relevant analysis of local expenditure in the external evaluation of the programme in summer 2021. The evaluation report can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1065868/Evaluation_of_the_2021_holiday_activities_and_food_programme.pdf.This indicated that 92% of the funding was spent on direct delivery of the programme including face-to-face holiday club provision, food costs, activity costs, staffing costs, and transports costs. The remaining 8% was spent on the administration of the programme by local authorities.

Health Education: Nitrous Oxide

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help teach young people in schools on the dangers of using nitrous oxide.

Claire Coutinho: The statutory curriculum for health education requires all pupils in state-maintained schools to be taught about legal and illegal harmful substances and the associated risks to physical and mental wellbeing, including smoking, alcohol use and drug-taking. This is supplemented by the national curriculum for science, which includes content on substances. Schools can teach about the dangers of using nitrous oxide in these lessons.The department has published resources for schools, including a teacher training module on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, as part of a wider suite of teacher training materials. These resources can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-drugs-alcohol-and-tobacco. These are designed to provide teachers with further clarity and practical advice on how to teach the curriculum.Public Health England, now the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, also worked with the PSHE Association to develop lesson plans on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which include specific references to the dangers of nitrous oxide. These are now available on the PSHE Association’s website, and can be accessed here: https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/curriculum-and-resources/resources/drug-and-alcohol-education-%E2%80%94-lesson-plans.

BTEC qualifications: Arts

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many FE colleges offer a Level 3 BTEC in Creative Media and Art and Design.

Robert Halfon: The number of further education (FE) colleges that had a student registered to them undertaking an applied general or tech level qualification in 2021 in Art and Design was 60 and in multimedia (including creative media) was 49. These numbers are broken down further below by the different type of FE sector colleges. The qualifications reported here are those that have been approved for reporting in performance tables in the 2020/21 academic year. Applied general and tech level qualifications are level 3 vocational and technical qualifications that include BTECs, which are a brand of qualifications awarded by Pearson, as well as similar qualifications that have been awarded by other awarding bodies.College typeSubjectNumber of collegesAgriculture and Horticulture CollegeArt and Design1General Further Education CollegeArt and Design54Sixth Form CollegeArt and Design5Agriculture and Horticulture CollegeMultimedia (inc. creative media)1General Further Education CollegeMultimedia (inc. creative media)35Sixth Form CollegeMultimedia (inc. creative media)13

Further Education: Finance

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report published on 24 October by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on Latest trends in further education and sixth form spending in England, what steps she is taking to ensure Further Education Colleges have sufficient funding to meet increased demand in the next five years.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to mitigate the impact of rising inflation on post-16 budgets in schools.

Robert Halfon: The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 (SR21) settlement will provide an extra £1.6 billion for 16-19 education in 2024/25 compared with the 2021/22 financial year in real terms, at the time of the announcement in October 2021. This includes funding to cover the rising demographic of students, additional hours for all 16 to 19-year-olds, aid the recovery of lost learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for increased take-up of T Levels.The well-established system of lagged funding for 16-19 education, including further education colleges, sixth forms and school, provides institutions with clear allocations each year based on student data, allowing them to make plans with confidence. Subject to affordability, where institutions see a particularly large increase in student numbers in a year, they typically qualify for exceptional in-year growth funding to help them with the extra costs of these students.The department has announced how the additional funding from the SR21 will be used for this academic year, 2022/23, including increasing the 16-19 national funding rate from £4,188 to £4,542, the High Value Courses Premium for the most economically valuable subjects from £400 to £600, and looked-after children and care leaver rates from £480 to £504. This follows the extra £691 million allocated in the previous two years and the specific funding made available to help recovery from the pandemic, including the 16-19 Tuition Fund which will make available £400 million over the four academic years from 2020/21 to 2023/24.In addition, we are investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the course of the Parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity, and supports levelling up. This will support the sector to reform and deliver the technical, skilled education our economy needs.The department is aware of the pressures rising inflation is causing providers of post-16 education. The government has announced the Government Energy Bill Relief Scheme, to support non-domestic customers, including further education colleges, sixth forms and schools. The department will continue to monitor the situation to determine our next steps.

Nurseries

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help nurseries in the private, public and not for profit sectors to work together to ensure that there is local comprehensive childcare provision.

Claire Coutinho: The department continues to engage with sector stakeholders and local authorities to monitor dynamics within local markets, parents' access to the government's entitlements and the childcare they require, and the sustainability of the sector.The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children, and Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained broadly stable at 1.3 million places since August 2015 Further findings can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2022/main-findings-childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2022.Officials from the department discuss sufficiency of provision in regular conversations with local authorities. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring sufficient childcare places in their area. The department has not been made aware by any local authority of any current sufficiency problem.

Childcare

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of childcare places.

Claire Coutinho: Departmental officials regularly discuss sufficiency of provision with local authorities. Local authorities are not currently reporting any substantial sufficiency issues and we have not seen a substantial number of parents unable to secure a childcare place.The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children, and Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained broadly stable at 1.3 million places since August 2015.According to findings from the 2021 Childcare and early years providers survey, 7 in 10 group-based providers reported having spare places in their full day provision and 49% of childminders reported having spare capacity on average across the week. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2021.

Video Games: Further Education

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many further education lecturers teach specific pathways or units related to Games Design and Development in further education colleges.

Robert Halfon: The department does not hold data on the number of teachers who teach specific pathways or units for any subject in further education colleges.

Further Education: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote (a) recruitment and (b) retention of staff in further education colleges.

Robert Halfon: The department continues to support the further education (FE) sector with the recruitment, retention, and development of teachers through a package of support in the 2022/23 academic year. This includes a new national FE recruitment campaign and teach in FE service to support prospective FE teachers into jobs. This is expected to reach millions of prospective FE teaching staff, and target those with valuable experience and skills in industry to train the next generation of technical experts. Our Taking Teaching Further programme is supporting industry experts to move into FE teaching, and the department is providing bursaries worth up to £26,000, each tax-free, which are available to support FE teacher training in priority subject areas for 2022/23. We are also investing in the quality of existing FE teachers through the T Level Professional Development programme, which has supported over 15,000 staff to deliver the new T Level qualifications.

Schools: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government is planning to take steps to support schools with their energy bills over winter 2022-23 in Romford constituency.

Nick Gibb: The Government has introduced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which will protect schools from high energy costs and give them greater certainty over their budgets during the winter months. The details of the scheme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers.Schools are also being supported by the cash increases to the core schools budget, which increased by £4 billion this financial year. Schools in Romford are attracting £76.8 million in total this year through the National Funding Formula (NFF), a 5.3% cash increase. This reflects 2.9% more per pupil in their pupil led funding compared to the 2021/22 financial year.  Schools’ actual allocations in 2022/23 financial year are based on local authorities’ local funding formulae. On top of this funding through the NFF, schools in Romford are seeing a further £2.3 million through the schools supplementary grant.The Department knows that every school’s circumstances are different. Schools in serious financial difficulty should contact their local authority or the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Schools: Sports

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that funding for school sport is at least maintained at current levels.

Nick Gibb: The Government has confirmed that the £320 million primary PE and sport premium and funding for School Games Organisers, will continue for the 2022/23 academic year. Funding for future years will be confirmed in due course.The Department is currently carrying out two open competitive processes to identify contractors to operate programmes on opening school facilities beyond normal hours. This will support good quality primary PE, which will be funded with up to £30 million each year.

Children: Ukraine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support Ukrainian refugee children into education in Havering.

Nick Gibb: The Department expects the local authority to support children to attend school as soon as possible.For children arriving via the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the Department is making quarterly payments to local authorities in England in the 2022/23 financial year, which they will make available to their schools. The London Borough of Havering has received allocations totalling £360,787.50 in the first two quarterly payments made in August and October 2022.The Department continues to engage with all local authorities.

Numeracy

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase levels of adult numeracy.

Robert Halfon: We want everyone to have the opportunity to learn and develop the essential skills they need to succeed at any age.That is why the department has launched Multiply, the Government’s new programme for improving adult numeracy, funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Up to £559m is available over the Spending Review period for Multiply, boosting funding for maths and enabling delivery of innovative approaches to improving adult numeracy.Multiply will enable local areas to deliver innovative approaches to improving numeracy amongst adults, helping more people take the next step to higher levels of training or unlock new job opportunities. Multiply will offer a range of flexible courses and interventions that fit around people’s lives and are tailored to specific needs, circumstances, sectors and industries. For example, courses designed to increase confidence with numbers for those needing the first steps towards formal numeracy qualifications or programmes delivered with employers to support people to get a job or progress within work.Adults who do not already have a GCSE Grade 4/C (or equivalent) or above in maths are already entitled to study fully funded maths GCSE or Functional Skills Qualifications. Multiply does not remove this entitlement, nor does it reduce funding for those qualifications through the Adult Education Budget.

Department for Education: Correspondence and Written Questions

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps their Department is taking to reduce the time taken to respond to (a) written parliamentary questions and (b) correspondence from Members of Parliament.

Nick Gibb: The Department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Members of Parliament, either directly, or on behalf of their constituents. The Department runs tailored training sessions for Departmental colleagues specific to written parliamentary questions and ministerial correspondence to improve the quality and timeliness of responses.All Departments also have access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus.

T-levels: Health and Science

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the Year 1 (a) Health, (b) Healthcare Science and (c) Science T Level students (i) received each grade under the original marking system and (ii) received each grade following the regrading of the papers ordered by Ofqual on 8 September.

Robert Halfon: The department does not, as a matter of course, publish partial results for T Level students who have a further year of study.It is accepted practice that results are published on completion of a qualification or programme of study. This ensures a full and accurate representation of students’ attainment, rather than a partial and interim result which is subject to change through marking review, appeals, and in-programme retake opportunities.Core results for the T Levels in Health, Healthcare Science, and Science have been reissued, given the issues with the examination papers identified by Ofqual. The results were reissued based on the employer set project grade (or initial grade if higher), rather than a regrading of examination papers. The students due to complete in summer 2023 have two additional retake opportunities on the remainder of their programme.

Higher Education: Video Games

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the number of students studying for a degree in video games.

Robert Halfon: The government is committed to supporting the growth of the UK’s video games sector. The video games industry trade body Ukie has estimated the value of the consumer games market at £7.16 billion in 2021, more than doubling in value since 2013.Through the Strategic Priorities Grant, the department is providing funding on an annual basis to support teaching and students in higher education, including expensive to deliver subjects, such as video game degrees and science and engineering more widely.The department is investing an additional £750 million over the next three years to support high quality teaching and facilities including in science and engineering. This includes £450 million in capital funding to invest in teaching and learning facilities.

Higher Education

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the delays at the Office for Students in registering new higher education providers on encouraging new higher education providers to enter the market.

Robert Halfon: When deciding whether a provider should be registered, the Office for Students (OfS) must carefully assess the provider against the strict criteria. To do this the OfS requires the provider to supply it with the relevant information upon applying. Where information is missing or insufficient, the time to process the application may be delayed until such information is provided.The OfS is careful to make sure the criteria is met prior to registering new providers to ensure that only providers capable of providing high quality courses, which are of value to both students and the tax-payer, are registered.The newly published OfS guidance on registration makes it clear what information is required from providers and that failure to provide this information may lead to delays or not being approved.The new guidance can be found at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/regulation/registration-with-the-ofs-a-guide/.

Teachers: Training

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teacher training entrants there were in each local education authority level in the last 12 months.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teacher training leavers there are in each local education authority level.

Nick Gibb: Table 1 shows the new entrants to postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) for the academic year 2021/22 split by postgraduate and undergraduate trainees. The table presents the number of postgraduate and undergraduate trainees split by local authority and region, which are determined by the location of the provider, not where the trainee is located. The figures are based on data from the latest ITT census publication, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2021-to-2022. The data published for the 2021/22 academic year is provisional. Revised data will be published in December as part of the 2022/23 academic year publication.Table 2 shows the outcomes for final year teacher trainees in England in the academic year 2020/21. The table presents the number of postgraduate and undergraduate trainees who were awarded qualified teacher status (QTS), and those who were not awarded QTS. Trainees who were not awarded QTS includes those who left the course before the end (excluding those who left the course within 90 days of the start) and trainees who did not meet the standards. There were a further 2,961 postgraduate and undergraduate trainees who were yet to complete their course the 2020/21 academic year who are not shown in the table. These trainees will either go on to be awarded QTS, leave the course before the end or complete without being awarded QTS in a later academic year. The table is split by local authority and region, which are determined by the location of the provider, not where the trainee is located. This data is the latest data that is published and covers a different cohort of trainees to that reported in the ITT census publication. The corresponding 2021/22 academic year data will be published in July 2023.These figures are based on data from the latest ITT performance profiles publication which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/initial-teacher-training-performance-profiles/2020-21.73881_73882_Table_1 (pdf, 181.6KB)73881_73882_Table_2 (pdf, 215.3KB)

Social Services: Children

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of public spending cuts on child social care.

Claire Coutinho: HM Treasury are responsible for setting government departmental budgets. Children’s social care budgets are set by local authorities from their non-ringfenced core spending power to allow councils freedom to spend according to need and local priorities.In 2022/23, councils have access to over £54 billion in core spending power for their services, including for children and young people. This is £3.7 billion more than in 2021/22. As part of this, the government has increased the social care grant, which has risen from £410 million in 2019 to £2.35 billion this year.Local authorities have increased spending on children’s services over time. In 2020/21 councils spent £11.1 billion on children and young people’s services. This is 23% (£2.05bn) higher than spend in 2015-16.As announced in May 2022, the department will consider the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, the National Panel Review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, and the Competition and Market Authority study into Children’s Social Care Placements. Plans will be set out for children’s social care reform through an implementation strategy, including cost and funding implications, in due course

Students: Mental Health

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support university students with their mental health.

Robert Halfon: The department works closely with the Office for Students (OfS) and the higher education (HE) sector to promote and fund effective practice around supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people.This government is investing at least £2.3 billion a year of extra funding to expand and transform mental health services by 2023/24, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. In addition, £500 million has been provided in 2021/22, which included £79 million for young people’s mental health services last year, enabling around 22,500 more children and young people to access support in their communities, and across education settings.To ensure that all students have access to dedicated mental health support no matter where they study, the department have asked the OfS to fund Student Space, a mental health and wellbeing online platform for students, with up to £3.6 million invested so far. It has been accessed by over 250,000 students since its launch in August 2020. The website for Student Space can be found here: https://www.studentspace.org.uk.The OfS has allocated an additional £15 million in the financial year 2022/23 to help address the challenges to student mental health posed by the transition to university, and to support joined up working with NHS services. This funding targets those students in greatest need of such services, including vulnerable groups and hard to reach students.To make faster progress, the OfS will allocate up to £3 million of this funding towards developing stronger partnership working with NHS services. Ministers from the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care chaired a summit in June 2022 to launch this work, and the departments continue to work together to achieve this common goal.It is essential that universities have access to robust evidence regarding effective practice. Alongside funding of £9 million over the past 4 years to develop innovative approaches to supporting student mental health, the OfS has recently commissioned a consortium, led by the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) to establish and disseminate successful approaches across the sector. This work will lead to the creation of a central, online hub to share better ways to support student mental health.In May 2022 the department appointed university Vice-Chancellor Edward Peck as HE's first ever Student Support Champion. His role will include promotion of technologies to flag the early warning signs where students may be struggling.

British Students Abroad: Ukraine

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions the Government has had with the Government of Ukraine to assist in the release of academic transcripts, previous degree certificates and high school diplomas of British and commonwealth students who were studying in Ukraine, prior to Russia’s invasion.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government has taken to make it easier for international, British and commonwealth students to transfer to UK institutions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions the Government has had with the Government of Ukraine to enable international, British and commonwealth students to transfer their studies to institutions in the UK.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with British and Commonwealth students who were studying in Ukraine on their experiences and the support they need, following the war that country.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his is taking to (a) ensure (i) British and (ii) Commonwealth students who were studying in Ukraine can continue and finish their studies and (b) support students in that position.

Robert Halfon: The department continues to work closely with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, the UK higher education (HE) sector and across government to ensure that international, British and Commonwealth students that are affected by the war in Ukraine are supported and have a range of options available to them during this difficult time.Universities in Ukraine are striving to maintain the education of their students under extremely challenging conditions. This includes through the provision of online distance learning for students enrolled at Ukrainian universities who now live in another country, including in the UK. The department encourages students to speak with their education provider in Ukraine to understand what support is available for them to continue their studies at their Ukrainian provider. This includes those studying through the UK twinning programme, of which the government announced funding to support in June 2022. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-uk-package-offers-a-lifeline-to-ukrainian-researchers-and-entrepreneurs. The programme provides support to Ukrainian universities by establishing partnerships with those in the UK.Students wishing to study at a UK university should speak with prospective providers to see what options are available to them. HE providers are autonomous institutions and are responsible for setting their own admissions criteria, but the department has made it clear to providers that they should be as flexible as possible when considering applications for students with difficult circumstances, such as those from Ukraine, or those who were studying in Ukraine.In addition, in April this year, the government announced £4 million for financial year 2022/23 to support Ukrainian students studying at English HE providers. This funding is intended to help Ukrainian nationals and Ukrainian-domiciled students who have been financially affected by the events in Ukraine.To help students and providers to understand the comparability of international qualifications at all levels of education, they can get expert advice from the UK National Information Centre for the recognition and evaluation of international qualifications and skills (ENIC). ENIC maintains an extensive database of international qualifications and education systems, including those used in Ukraine, and is fully prepared to assess and advise on the comparability of Ukrainian qualifications with those of the UK. Organisations and individuals can apply for a Statement of Comparability through the standard UK ENIC portal, which can be found at: https://www.enic.org.uk/Qualifications/SOC/Default.aspx.ENIC also has the capacity to assist those without full documentation to have their qualifications evaluated.

Post-16 Qualifications at Level 3 and Below in England Review

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) Level 3 qualifications and (b) other qualifications are included in the scope of his Department’s review of post-16 qualifications.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Level 3 applied general qualifications are currently included in the scope of his Department’s review of post-16 qualifications; and how many of those qualifications are (a) approved and (b) not approved for inclusion in performance tables.

Robert Halfon: As at August 2022, there were 5,200 qualifications approved for post-16 funding in England and in scope of the review of post-16 qualifications. This figure excludes those qualifications that the department has already confirmed will continue to be funded. 1,510 qualifications are at level 3, and 3,690 are at level 2 and below. Applied General is a level 3 qualification (AGQ) category of the aged 16-18 performance tables. There are 134 AGQs approved for inclusion on the 2024 aged16-18 performance tables, all of which are in scope of the post-16 qualifications review.

Students: Cost of Living

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on support for students on the cost of living.

Robert Halfon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 24 October 2022 to Question 65642.

Family Hubs

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on the roll out of family hubs.

Claire Coutinho: The department is investing £301.75 million to transform ‘Start for Life’ and family support services in 75 local authorities. The programme is being delivered jointly by the Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care. An additional £28.7 million has been made available to these 75 local authorities to improve young children’s home learning environments, helping them to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.The Programme Guide has been published outlining what the department expects the 75 eligible local authorities to deliver, and local authorities are now in the process of signing up to the programme.In addition to this funding, the department has launched a £12 million Family Hubs Transformation Fund to support 12 local authorities in England to move to a family hub model of service delivery and open family hubs. The fund will support the department to learn more about the process of local transformation, build our evidence base, and create valuable resources and learning for those local authorities moving to a family hub model in the future. The department announced the first seven successful local authorities onto this programme, on 23 May. These local authorities have now begun their transformation journey and have received their first tranche of funding. An announcement will be made in due course about the next five local authorities that have been offered a place on the programme.

Harper Adams University: Domestic Visits

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will visit Harper Adams University in 2023.

Robert Halfon: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, will consider the request proposed by my right hon. Friend to visit Harper Adams University. My right hon. Friend will be notified as soon as a decision has been reached.

Childcare: Gedling

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Gedling constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Hastings & Rye constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Watford constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Milton Keynes South constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Leigh constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Hartlepool constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Dover constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Ipswich constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the York Outer constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average proportion of income was that parents of children aged (a) under five and (b) between five and 11 spent on (i) holiday clubs and (ii) other forms of childcare in the last 12 months in Plymouth Moor View constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Peterborough constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Hendon constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Cities of London and Westminster constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Norwich North constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the South Swindon constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Bishop Auckland constituency,.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of income parents of children aged (a) under 5 and (b) 5-11 spend each year on average on childcare including holiday clubs in the Burnley constituency.

Claire Coutinho: The department does not hold the data requested. However, the most recent Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents provides some data on parental spend on childcare. The results of this survey are available at: https://www.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents/2021.The survey shows the average cost of childcare per week for parents of 0 to 14-year-old children by region. It also shows the cost by day for school-aged children during holiday periods. This data is not available at local authority or constituency level.The department is aware that childcare is a key concern for parents and that is why we are committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. We continue to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and to encourage families to use the government-funded support they are entitled to.The department has spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on early education entitlements and continues to support families with the cost of childcare through Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit.In the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, the department also announced it is investing over £200 million a year in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides enriching activities and healthy meals for disadvantaged children during school holidays.In July, the department announced further measures to increase take-up of childcare support and reduce the costs and bureaucracy facing providers. This included a new £1.2 million campaign via the childcare choices website to ensure every parent knows about the government funded support they are eligible for. Childcare Choices is available at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.

Universities: Overseas Students

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the number of international students at UK universities.

Robert Halfon: The department engages regularly with the Home Office on matters relating to international students at English higher education providers.The department remains committed to and continues to work towards the ambition in the International Education Strategy, published in 2019 and updated in 2021 and 2022, to host at least 600,000 international students in the UK per year, by 2030.We were hugely proud to meet this ambition for the first time in the 2020/21 academic year with 605,130 international students in the UK.Attracting the brightest students from around the world is good for our universities, delivering growth at home as well as supporting the creation of more university places for UK students. This remains a priority for the department.

Overseas Students

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the International Education Strategy outlined in 2019 remains his Department's policy objective, including the target for the UK to (a) host 600,000 international students and (b) receive £35 billion export income per year by 2030.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the International Education Strategy outlined in 2019 remains his Department's policy objective, including the target for the UK to (a) host 600,000 international students and (b) raise £35 billion in export income per year by 2030.

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the International Education Strategy outlined in 2019 remains his Department's policy objective including the target for the UK to (a) host 600,000 international students and (b) raise £35 billion in export income per year by 2030.

Robert Halfon: The department remains committed and continues to work towards the two ambitions in the International Education Strategy published in 2019 and updated in 2021 and 2022. These ambitions are to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year and to continue to host at least 600,000 international students in the UK per year, both by 2030. With 605,130 international students in the UK hosted in the 2020/21 academic year, the government has met its International Students ambition for the first time, nearly ten years early.Education exports make an important contribution to the UK economy as well as helping us build global relationships and international students enrich the university experience for all students, including those from the UK themselves. For both international and domestic students, this cultural exchange helps build life-long friendships, future networks, and important business, political and diplomatic bridges.

Childcare

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2022 to Question 59631 on Children: Houghton and Sunderland South, if he will make the same information available for every Parliamentary constituency in England.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2022 to Question 59631 on Children: Houghton and Sunderland South, if he will publish figures for the number of childcare places for children aged (a) 0-2 and (b) 3-4 years old, by Parliamentary constituency in England.

Claire Coutinho: A breakdown in the number of Ofsted-registered childminders who are working, and the number of children aged 1-3 and 4-11 for every parliamentary constituency in England, can be found in the attached table.   Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. At present, all local authorities report that they are fulfilling their duty to ensure sufficient childcareOfsted also publishes provider level data which includes the number of childcare places provided by the setting and parliamentary constituency. This is not differentiated by age of child. The data has been aggregated to parliamentary constituency level in the attached table and provider level data is published at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1085700/Childcare_provider_level_data_as_at_31_March_2022.ods.Childcare by constituency (xlsx, 53.5KB)Childminders by constituency (xlsx, 63.0KB)

Childcare: Derby North

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Derby North constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Stroud constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Warrington South constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Truro and Falmouth constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Bury North constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Gedling constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Hastings and Rye constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Watford constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Milton Keynes South constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Leigh constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Hartlepool constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Dover constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Ipswich constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in York Outer constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Plymouth Moor View constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Peterborough constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Hendon constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Cities of London and Westminster constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers have ceased to operate in Norwich North constituency since 2010; and how many childcare places did those closures eliminate.

Claire Coutinho: This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Charter Flights

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on chartered flights for (a) ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) prisoners in (i) 2022 and (ii) since 2010.

Mike Freer: Chartered flights by spend - MOJ2020 – 2021£563,624.122021 – 2022£546,791.332022 – YTD (Sept)£543,907.12The MOJ holds data for the last three years 2020, 2021 and 2022, however due to the system limitations and internal policies we are unable to break down the amount spent on Ministerial travel as Ministers are not considered employees of the department. They are therefore not required to create accounts and book their own travel which can be monitored through our management reports. Instead, their travel is booked by Private Office employees and logged as guest users.Furthermore, any flights for prisoners would not show on the MI that they are for a prisoner. We are therefore unable to break down prisoner travel for the same reason as Ministers due to not being employees of the department and not requiring accounts.

Prisoners: Self Harm

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Safety in Custody Statistics: Self-harm annual tables, 2004 - 2021, what steps he is taking to reduce self-harming incidents in female establishments.

Damian Hinds: We continue to do everything we can to address self-harm in the women’s estate.We have implemented a strengthened case management approach to support women at risk of self-harm, as well as one to one key work support, tailored for the female estate.In the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we set out our vision for prisons of the future, with a new approach to the women’s estate including smaller, trauma-responsive custodial environments for women on short sentences. We are also investing £37 million on measures to reduce levels of self-harm and violence, including in the women’s estate.Alongside this, we have established a Women’s Self-Harm Taskforce to provide specialist support and an increased range of interventions across women’s prisons. This includes delivery of specialist training for new officers, recruitment of psychologists to support women with complex needs and piloting a compassion focussed therapy designed for women.

Prison Accommodation

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will provide details of number of prison cells which have been taken permanently out of use in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: Over the past decade, prison capacity has been taken out of use both temporarily and on a permanent basis for a number of reasons, including deterioration in the standard and condition of the accommodation. Accommodation is also taken out of use temporarily for essential maintenance and refurbishment.Since 2010 approximately 10,000 new, permanent prison places have opened in new prisons and new houseblocks built in existing prisons, including the recent opening of HMP Five Wells which opened in February 2022 and when operating at full capacity will provide up to c.1700 newly built prison places.The details of the number of prison cells which have been taken permanently out of use in each year since 2010 are as follows:YearPlaces taken permanently out of use.20100201166420125882013298720141122015816201612962017966201858020195302020909202110802022*112*As of 1 November 2022

Prison Accommodation

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison cells were not in use due to disrepair or poor estate conditions as of 27 October 2022.

Damian Hinds: As of 27 October 2022, there were some 2,550 prison places out of use for maintenance, refurbishment or repair, which accounts for approximately 3% of the overall capacity of the prison estate.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Taxis

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much her Department spent on taxi cabs for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants in each of the last three years.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for International Trade (DIT) spend on taxi cabs in each of the last three years for both ministers and civil servants is as follows  20202021January – October 2022£52,110.37£28,383.35£97,016.49DIT Ministerial travel, gifts, hospitality and meetings are published on www.gov.uk -https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Sewage: Storage

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of sewage treatment plants in England contain storage tanks.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency permitting database shows there are 5,505 water company sewage treatment works in England, of which 37% (2,017) have permitted storm tank discharges.

Sewage: Waste Disposal

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his comments in the House of Commons on 8 September 2022 that he had instructed water company chief executives to write to him formally by 21 September 2022 with a plan for how they would make significant improvements, whether he has received those letters.

Rebecca Pow: As the Secretary of State requested, we have received letters from all water companies on how they plan to make improvements, and we are now working with them to establish where they can do more and opportunities to speed up delivery.We will respond accordingly to the outcomes of these discussions.

Sewage: Waste Disposal

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his comments in the House of Commons on 8 September 2022 that he had instructed water company chief executives to write to him formally by 21 September 2022 with a plan for how they would make significant improvements, whether he plans to publish those letters once received.

Rebecca Pow: As the Secretary of State requested, we have received letters from all water companies on how they plan to make improvements, and we are now working with them to establish where they can do more and opportunities to speed up delivery.We will respond accordingly to the outcomes of these discussions.

Nature Conservation

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to maintain the protections species and habitats have through Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).

Trudy Harrison: Nature is in need of our help, so HM Government has set a legally binding target to halt its decline by 2030. In March this year, we published the Nature Recovery Green Paper setting out our proposals to reform our system of protections to better support this ambitious work, including the Habitats Regulations. The Green Paper is available here. Our proposals seek to create a system that better reflects the latest science and impending impacts of climate change, our domestic species and habitats, and helps us to achieve our significant goals to recover nature. The Nature Recovery Green Paper consultation closed on 11th May and we are now in the process of analysing responses. The Government will publish a formal response on conclusion of this exercise.

Saltmarshes: Environment Protection

Siobhan Baillie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has taken recent steps to (a) strengthen protections for and (b) promote the restoration of saltmarsh habitats.

Trudy Harrison: HM Government recognises the important role that nature-based solutions, including blue carbon habitats, such as saltmarsh can play to prevent biodiversity loss and support adaptation and resilience to climate change, alongside their carbon sequestration benefits. England’s Environment Agency (EA) reports on the extent and zonation of saltmarsh in England. The latest report (looking at saltmarsh area change over a decade from 2006-2009 to 2016-2019) is published on GOV.UK and has mapped existing restoration sites and supports further restoration practices. 38% of UK waters are already in Marine Protected Areas, covering the majority of saltmarsh habitats. Our focus is now on ensuring these are effectively managed. The EA also lead the ‘Restoring Meadows, Marsh and Reef Initiative’, working with partners across government, the eNGO sector, academia and industry to streamline regulatory processes, build capacity and share knowledge to facilitate the accelerated restoration of estuarine and coastal habitats, with an initial focus on three priority habitats - saltmarshes, seagrass beds and native oyster reefs. At COP26, as part of this initiative, the EA also launched its Saltmarsh Restoration Handbook, a guide written by practitioners and experts to support groups wanting to undertake their own saltmarsh restoration project, one of 3 ‘Blue Carbon Restoration Handbooks’. We are also working to increase private investment in nature. The £10 million Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund is also supporting three projects with almost £300k of grants, to explore, develop and then test methodologies to measure and verify the carbon storage potential in saltmarsh habitats. This includes a project to develop a Saltmarsh Carbon code from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Finally, through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Estate and Defra to continue to strengthen our evidence base relating to blue carbon habitats including saltmarsh. The first aim of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon within an Evidence Needs Statement that will act as a signal to the research community for further work.

Carbon Capture and Storage: Seas and Oceans

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timetable is for the publication of the findings of the cross-Administration UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership.

Trudy Harrison: Through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with BEIS and Defra to address key research questions relating to our policy on blue carbon. One of the first aims of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon within an Evidence Needs Statement that will act as a signal to the research community. The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership plans to publish the Evidence Needs Statement in Spring 2023.

Biodiversity: Capital Investment

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of investment zones with (a) habitat and biodiversity legislation (b) his Department's biodiversity obligations under the Environment Act 2021.

Trudy Harrison: Defra and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are working closely together on Investment Zone policy to support our growth objectives and maintain HM Government's strong position on the environment. We are not weakening our environmental ambition either at home or abroad and remain committed to delivering on the Environment Act, including setting a new legally binding target to halt the decline of species abundance in England by 2030.

National Plant Collections and Plant Heritage

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the work of (a) the National Plant Collections and (b) Plant Heritage on biodiversity; and if he will take steps to help support the work of these organisations.

Trudy Harrison: The conservation work carried out by Plant Heritage to ensure the resilience of garden plants to environmental and societal change, makes an important contribution to HM Government’s plans to tackle biodiversity loss. There are currently over 650 registered and documented plant collections containing around 95,000 specimens under the auspices of Plant Heritage. Defra supports Plant Heritage alongside other organisations that hold plant collections, such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, which is a Defra non-departmental public body whose work aligns closely with the objectives of Plant Heritage. The National Collections held at Kew include species and cultivars grown for scientific research as well as ornamental display. They include genera such as bananas, important for their potential to safeguard food security through genetic diversification, and Betula, one of our most attractive garden trees. These collections form the basis for innovative interpretation and a vast programme of training and education. They come from a range of global locations and may offer valuable indications of which species could be fit and functional in the long term, in the face of biotic and abiotic threats. For example, incorporation of the genus Nothofagus (southern beech) into our tree planting programmes could help to ensure well-functioning future woodlands. With biodiversity disappearing at an unprecedented rate, the National Plant Collections and organisations such as Plant Heritage have an important role to play in the achievement of HM Government’s biodiversity ambitions.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Email

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department provides to Ministers on the use of personal email accounts for the conduct of public business.

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her predecessors forwarded official documents from their government emails to their personal email addresses from 24 July 2019 to 25 October 2022.

Mark Spencer: The Cabinet Office has published guidance to departments on the use of private email that covers how information is held for the purposes of access to information, and how formal decisions are recorded for the official record. This guidance is being updated to reflect changes in technology and ways of working, and will be published by the Cabinet Office in due course. It is Government policy not to comment on individual Ministers’ security arrangements. Ministers receive support and expert advice to help them meet their obligations in the most appropriate and secure fashion. That includes regular security briefings for Ministers, and advice on protecting their personal data and mitigating cyber threats. There is a place for the use of a variety of digital channels in fast moving modern environments. Ministers will have informal conversations from time to time, in person or remotely, and relevant content from such discussions is passed back to officials. They will also use a variety of digital communications channels for personal, political and Parliamentary matters.

Environmental Land Management Schemes

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will announce the results of the review of the Environmental Land Management Schemes; and what further measures will be included in that review to ensure sustainable food production.

Mark Spencer: Protecting our environment is at the heart of the Government's manifesto commitments and we will always back British farmers and our rural communities. We will be continuing to phase out area-based subsidies and roll out environmental land management schemes. We will publish more details shortly.

Environmental Land Management Schemes

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made on the future of all three elements of the Environment Land Management Scheme (ELMS) including (a) sustainable farming incentive (SFI), (b) local nature recovery (LNR) and (c) landscape recovery (LR).

Mark Spencer: As set out in the Growth Plan, we are looking at the frameworks for regulation, innovation and investment that impact farmers and land managers, to make sure that our policies are best placed to both boost food production and protect the environment. This includes looking at how best to deliver the Environmental Land Management schemes to see where and how improvements can be made, and we will continue to work closely with the sector to ensure these are designed and delivered in their best interests. Claims we intend to go back on our commitment to the environment are simply not right. We’re not scrapping the schemes. In light of the pressures farmers are facing as a result of the current global economic situation, including spikes in input costs, it’s only right that we look at how best to deliver the schemes to see where and how improvements can be made. Boosting food production and strengthening resilience and sustainability come alongside, not instead of, protecting and enhancing our natural environment, and later this year we will set out more details of plans on how we will increase food security while strengthening the resilience and role of farmers as stewards of the British countryside.More information can be found at: Government reiterates commitment to environmental protections - Defra in the media (blog.gov.uk)

Countryside and Green Belt: Capital Investment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of new Investment Zones on legal protections for national parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and green belt land.

Trudy Harrison: Defra and DLUHC are working closely together on Investment Zone policy to support our growth objectives and maintain HM Government’s strong position on the environment. We are not weakening our environmental ambition either at home or abroad and remain committed to Net Zero by 2050 and delivering on the Environment Act, including setting a new legally binding target to halt the decline of species abundance in England by 2030.

Game: Animal Housing

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning all cages for breeding game birds.

Trudy Harrison: No recent assessment has been made.

Home Office

Detention Centres: Manston

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average recorded stay for (a) an individual and (b) a family accommodated at Manston Short-term Holding Facility has been since that facility opened.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Detention Centres: Manston

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the longest recorded stay for (a) an individual and (b) a family accommodated at Manston Short-term Holding Facility was since that facility opened.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Local Government: Audit

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which local authorities have not met the deadline for completion of their audits for 2020-2021.

Lee Rowley: Local authorities' websites show whether statement of accounts have been audited.

Local Government Finance: Equality

Paula Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the local government funding formula at addressing inequalities.

Paula Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of local funding formulas in determining the level of local service provision for (a) police, (b) adult social care, (c) public health and (d) other local government services.

Lee Rowley: The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available funding for local authorities in England.The Government will always work with local partners to take stock of the challenges and opportunities they face as part of any potential formula reformThe Home Office is separately undertaking a review of the police funding formula to the 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of a fair funding review of fire services.

Lee Rowley: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Correspondence and Written Questions

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps their Department is taking to reduce the time taken to respond to (a) written parliamentary questions and (b) correspondence from Members of Parliament.

Mr Alister Jack: The Scotland Office attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Parliamentary Questions and correspondence, and officials remain committed to providing the highest level of service. Processes are regularly reviewed and officials have access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus. From May 2022 to July 2022, the Scotland Office answered 100% of PQs on time. From May 2022 to July 2022, the Scotland Office answered 76% of all Ministerial Correspondence on time, and 100% of all correspondence from Members of Parliament on time.

Cabinet Office

Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Prime Minister plans to take in relation to investigations which were commenced by the former independent adviser on Ministers' interests but have not concluded.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer previously given by my Hon. Friend the member for Charnwood on 22 September 2022 (UIN 49175).The one outstanding Ministerial Code investigation had not been completed under the previous Administration. Decisions on concluding this matter will be taken in due course.

Cabinet Office: Electronic Government

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much money from the public purse his Department spent on (a) staff activity, (b) IT costs and (c) external marketing costs related to the creation, maintenance and promotion of the GOV.UK Verify scheme; and how many accounts have been set up under the GOV.UK Verify scheme, in each financial year from the start of 2014-15 up to the end of October 2022.

Jeremy Quin: GOV.UK Verify continues to provide a service for its 7 remaining services and their users, ahead of the system’s retirement in April 2023. More than 10 million GOV.UK Verify accounts have been created over its lifetime.The amount spent on staff activity in each financial year - primarily comprising pay, pension contributions, training and travel - is shown below:● 2014-2015: £4.4m● 2015-2016: £4.3m● 2016-2017: £5.3m● 2017-2018: £11.9m● 2018-2019: £5.3m● 2019-2020: £8.2m● 2020-2021: £5.8m● 2021-2022: £7.4m● 2022-2023 (to date): £0.2m The IT-related costs of developing, operating and maintaining GOV.UK Verify, which include payments to Verify’s external identity providers, are as follows:● 2014-2015: £7.6m● 2015-2016: £13.4m● 2016-2017: £18.4m● 2017-2018: £23.6m● 2018-2019: £28.7m● 2019-2020: £9.2m● 2020-2021: £9.2m● 2021-2022: £8.7m● 2022-2023 (to 30/09/22): £2.0m External marketing costs relating to GOV.UK Verify are not recorded separately. The number of GOV.UK Verify accounts created in each financial year is as follows:● 2014-2015: 31,650● 2015-2016: 649,386● 2016-2017: 720,943● 2017-2018: 938,827● 2018-2019: 1,824,384● 2019-2020: 2,478,953● 2020-2021: 1,770,435● 2021-2022: 1,415,907● 2022-2023 (until the end of September 2022): 288,528

European Communities Act 1972

Stella Creasy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government maintains a comprehensive list of legislation made under (a) Section 2(2) and (b) Paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to the European Communities Act 1972.

Jeremy Quin: The information requested is not held centrally. All legislation is available on legislation.gov.uk.

Treasury

Private Rented Housing: Tax Allowances

David Linden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing tax relief on income generated from the rental of a residential property where the landlord has advanced stage (a) Alzheimer's disease and (b) dementia and the rental income funds their specialist residential care; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: There are a wide range of factors to consider when introducing tax reliefs as they can add significant complexity to the tax system. Tax reliefs are also difficult to target effectively. For example, they do not benefit individuals with income below the Income Tax Personal Allowance. Recognising the current challenges faced by care homes and local Government, the Government has announced an additional £500 million to support discharge from hospitals into care and the adult social care workforce this winter as part of Our Plan for Patients. The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review. Any decisions on future changes will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.

Mortgages and Rents

Beth Winter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the number of residents failing to pay (a) rent and (b) mortgage payments as a result of increases in the cost of living in (a) the UK, (b) Rhondda Cynon Taf local authority and c) Cynon Valley constituency.

Andrew Griffith: The Government is committed to supporting the most vulnerable with the rising cost of living. The Government has already taken immediate action to help households with the rising cost of living through the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Support Scheme. This is in addition to the £37 billion of targeted support for the cost of living this financial year, which will support homeowners and tenants alike. The Government has also announced an extra £500 million of local support in England via the Household Support Fund (bringing the total amount provided to £1.5 billion since October 2021). To help prevent renters from falling into arrears, the Government has invested £316 million this year into the Homelessness Prevention Grant, which can be used flexibly by local authorities to meet their statutory duties and help vulnerable households at risk of homelessness. In addition, for those in receipt of welfare, the Government has committed to providing £100 million for Discretionary Housing Payments this year to provide financial support to low-income households with their rent or housing costs. Mortgage arrears levels remain historically low. Out of a total of 8.4 million residential mortgages, according to the latest UK Finance data, 74,560 residential mortgages were in arrears at the end of June, 10% fewer than in the same period in the previous year. Around 75% of residential mortgage borrowers are on fixed-rate deals and are therefore shielded from interest rate rises in the short term. If mortgage borrowers do fall into financial difficulty, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance requires firms to provide support through tailored forbearance options. The Government has also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest loans for those in receipt of an income-related benefit, and protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders.

Electric Vehicles: Sales

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for Budget Responsibility's publication entitled What does faster take-up of electric cars mean for tax receipts, published in March 2022, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising targets in the ZEV mandate to reflect the OBR's forecast for electric car sales.

James Cartlidge: The government is fully supportive of the transition to electric vehicles. The government is analysing responses to the technical consultation on zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate policy design, and will bring forward the Government’s response, and a full regulatory proposal and cost benefit analysis, in due course.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Correspondence and Written Questions

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps their Department is taking to reduce the time taken to respond to (a) written parliamentary questions and (b) correspondence from Members of Parliament.

Julia Lopez: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) recognises the importance of providing timely responses to written parliamentary questions (WPQs) and correspondence. Every effort is made to provide prompt responses to enquiries, and we continually seek opportunities for improvement in these areas; doing so in regular collaboration with other departments across Whitehall to share best practice.DCMS has access to regular training led by the Parliamentary Capability Team through the Government Campus. DCMS also runs regular training sessions within the department on WPQs and correspondence to further improve the quality and timeliness of our responses.Between July 2021 and July 2022, DCMS answered 88% of House of Commons WPQs on time, meaning on the named day or within five working days for ordinary WPQs. In the same period, DCMS answered 67% of ministerial correspondence cases within 20 working days. Additionally, as noted by the Procedure Committee in its report on departmental performance in the 2021-22 session of Parliament, DCMS answered 90% of all WPQs on time during the last session of Parliament.

Women and Equalities

Guide Dogs

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of current legislation with respect to people with assistance dogs being able to access businesses and services.

Stuart Andrew: We are clear that no one should be refused access to businesses or services because they have an assistance dog.The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on businesses and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve disabled people’s access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. This reasonable adjustment duty is an anticipatory duty therefore those who provide goods, facilities and services to members of the public are expected to anticipate the reasonable adjustments that disabled customers may require, including auxiliary aids.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the public body responsible for enforcing the Equality Act. In 2017, the EHRC published two pieces of guidance - a guide to help businesses understand what they can do to meet their legal duties to assistance dog owners, and a guide to help tourism businesses welcome people with access requirements. The EHRC supports disabled individuals who have experienced discrimination to take their cases to court.In recent years, case law has strengthened the equalities law for people with assistance dogs. There have been a number of significant cases brought under the Equality Act involving assistance dogs, which have been successfully litigated, for example, Bloch v Kassim (assistance dogs in taxis); Clutton and Williams v Pen-y-Bryn Group (assistance dogs in restaurants); and McCafferty v Miah (assistance dogs in shops). The Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), the equalities and human rights helpline, receives about 35,000 customer contacts a year, more than 60% of which concern disability issues. The EASS can intervene directly with or assist the complainant to take the problem up with the relevant service provider in many cases, including those involving assistance dogs.

Guide Dogs

Ben Everitt: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that guide dog owners are not refused access to shops, businesses and taxis.

Stuart Andrew: We are clear that no one should be refused access to businesses or services because they have an assistance dog.Under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), businesses that provide goods and services to the public must not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people. The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing access to guide dogs or assistance dogs so that disabled customers have the same access to goods and services and are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled customers. Taxi and private hire drivers have a duty under the Act to carry guide dogs and assistance dogs at no extra cost to the passenger.In December 2017, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published guidance for all businesses, including service providers, on their duty towards disabled people who own assistance/guide dogs. The guidance explains that assistance dogs should be treated as auxiliary aids and not as pets. The guidance is available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/assistance-dogs-a-guide-for-all-businesses.pdf and makes clear that businesses and service providers should allow assistance dogs access to buildings where dogs would normally not be permitted whenever this is reasonable.Anybody who thinks they have been discriminated against in the services offered to them can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) which provides free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns via their website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, or by telephone on 0808 800 0082 or by text phone on 0808 800 0084.